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Moderna announced Tuesday that it has begun testing its coronavirus vaccine on children ages six months to less than 12 years in a Phase 2/3 trial beginning in the U.S. and Canada. Why it matters: It's an important first step in expanding the vaccine rollout beyond adults, who are at higher risk of severe disease and have been a focus of inoculation campaigns around the world thus far. (3/16)

Moderna Inc. has begun studying its Covid-19 vaccine in children aged six months to 11 years in the U.S. and Canada, the latest effort to widen the mass-vaccination campaign beyond adults. The Cambridge, Mass. company said Tuesday that the first children have received doses in the study, which Moderna is conducting in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Loftus, 3/16)

Moderna announced Monday that it has begun testing on a potentially refrigerator-stable version of its coronavirus vaccine. Moderna's "next generation COVID-19 vaccine," if found to be effective, could be handled by ordinary pharmacies that aren't equipped with ultra-low freezers, which have been an impediment in the vaccine rollout. (Rummier, 3/15)

Moderna on Monday announced that it began administering its next generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate in a Phase 1 study. The new candidate, mRNA-1283, can be stored in a refrigerator which could potentially ease storage and shipping hurdles. "We are pleased to begin this Phase 1 study of our next generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate, mRNA-1283," Stephane Bancel, Moderna CEO, said in a press release Monday. "Our investments in our mRNA platform have enabled us to develop this next generation vaccine candidate which is a potential refrigerator-stable vaccine that could facilitate easier distribution and administration in a wider range of settings, including potentially for developing countries. We remain committed to helping address this ongoing public health emergency." (Hein, 3/15)

On Monday, researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported a first attempt to find out. They tested 436 people who had received new organs in recent years and were getting the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. A few weeks after the first dose, 17% of the transplant recipients had developed antibodies against the coronavirus, said Dr. Dorry Segev, a Hopkins transplant surgeon who co-authored the study. Segev acknowledged transplant recipients may fare better after the needed second dose — he’ll also check that — but prior studies show the first shot is enough to kickstart antibody production in just about everybody with a well-functioning immune system. (Neergaard, 3/15)